Keep doubting Tiger Woods and looking foolish

After winning the Memorial Sunday, tying Jack Nicklaus for the second-most career PGA victories, Tiger Woods posted this on Twitter:

“Winning No. 73 at Jack’s place is extra special. Honored to be associated with the greatest of all time.”

He was right. Nicklaus is the greatest of all time. … For now.

If you doubt Woods’ ability to win 18 majors, you were just looking for reasons to doubt.

If you have doubted whether he would have the focus to win 18 majors, same thing, you were just looking for a reason to doubt.

'Winning No. 73 at Jack's place is extra special,' Tiger Woods said Sunday. Click on the image for more photos from the Memorial. (Tony Dejak/AP)

From the moment he stepped onto the first tee at his first major tournament, 18 was the number he was chasing. His goal.

That runaway win at Augusta National didn’t change that and nothing he has done in the past few years has changed that. This weekend’s win at Memorial didn’t change it either.

It has always been a matter of when, not if. It’s funny to me that we even have to have the discussion. Let’s just watch and enjoy.

I understand rooting against him. You can like or dislike an athlete for any number if reasons. But questioning Tiger’s greatness is simply foolish.

People who doubt Woods, do so out of a desire to see him fail, not out of intelligence.

They get mad when he does a fist pump after a sensational shot like that incredible flop on the 16th. As if he were the first person to do a fist pump on a golf course.

They point angry fingers when he says a cuss word. As if he is the first golfer to shout an occasional expletive after a poor shot. They threw stones when he got a divorce because of infidelity. As if he were the first golfer to cheat on his wife.

But worse than all that, when it comes to the sport, they throw out the “next Tiger” tag as if what he has accomplished can be just handed down like a favorite putter. None of the youngsters thrown up as his successor to greatness will get anywhere near what he has done.

That’s not a knock on them. They are phenomenal players. But there is a difference between being really good and being Tiger Woods.

As Gary Player said when he was in Houston recently, Tiger is “the most talented man that ever held a club in his hand.”

Remember that as Rory McIlroy, who if you use trick math is ahead of Tiger’s major pace, misses cuts left and right (three in a row at last count; Tiger has never even missed two in a row and only five his entire career) and says he hasn’t practiced as much as he should lately, but gets no criticism for it.

Keep that in mind as Rickie Fowler gets a win every now and then (well, he has one), dresses like a clown, and yet is proclaimed the next great one and so great for the game. Please.

Think about how the already vanquished Tiger challengers like Phil Mickelson, who shot a 79 in the first round on Thursday and withdrew from the tournament because of “mental exhaustion,” are treated. Had Woods done that, his withdrawal would have been a bigger story than whoever had gone on to win the tournament.

That is Tiger’s world. Everything is bigger. Grander. That’s what greatness gets you.

Tiger has won 14 majors. The entire field playing the weekend at the Memorial had a total of 14 major wins between them.

As for the 18 majors? Remember, Nicklaus won the Masters at 46. Player won it at 42. Trevino won the PGA at 44.

Tiger is 36.

“He’s got time on his hands,” Player said.

Woods reached 73 wins 10 years before Nicklaus got to that mark. Sam Snead holds the record, for now, with 82 career victories.

Before you ask is the Tiger of old back, keep in mind that no one anytime soon is ever going to be what Tiger was in 2001. That was possibly the greatest season in golf history.

So, no, he isn’t back to that. Never will be.

But 2009? 2008? Oh, he most certainly can and will get back to that.

I don’t even think he will win the U.S. Open at Olympic in two weeks. The course just doesn’t setup well for his game.

Then again, Tiger has done many things on the golf course that people didn’t think he could do.